Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the nineteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $292.00.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Baird R W raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total transaction of $225,378.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,208,165.28. This trade represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total value of $383,398.64. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,199 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,171,108.84. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Ecolab by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,662,213 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $6,644,987,000 after buying an additional 250,980 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,479,529 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,469,019,000 after buying an additional 22,986 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% in the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,089,226 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,036,485,000 after purchasing an additional 93,409 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 4.0% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,805,952 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $964,885,000 after purchasing an additional 145,902 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,577,229 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $906,900,000 after purchasing an additional 27,619 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE ECL opened at $271.04 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $272.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $261.40. Ecolab has a 52-week low of $221.62 and a 52-week high of $286.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market cap of $76.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.19, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.07.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%. Ecolab has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.420-7.620 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Ecolab will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.71%.

About Ecolab

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Global Industrial; Global Institutional & Specialty; and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences. The Global Industrial segment offers water treatment and process applications, and cleaning and sanitizing solutions to manufacturing, food and beverage processing, transportation, chemical, metals and mining, power generation, pulp and paper, commercial laundry, petroleum, refining, and petrochemical industries.

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